14 DAY TRIAL // The PlayStation Portable took the world by storm when it was first launched, as gamers all around the world were given a small handheld device that not only could play quality titles but also had great multimedia capabilities and was a great solution for people on the go who didn't have a lot of time to spend in front of the TV.
But while the “classic” version has three revamps in terms of hardware, the first complete upgrade of the device, the PSP Go, will also be the first one that will changes the most important feature of the gadget: the UMD drive.
You would think that this move was a recent one, as Sony saw the advantages of digital distribution over the classic “brick and mortar” scheme, but that isn't so, according to Sony Computer Entertainment's Naoya Matsui, who revealed that a UMD-less PSP was planned straight from the beginning of the PSP. The reason why it wasn't released? The market wasn't ready for a device aimed at those who prefer digital distribution.
“We'd planned to release a PSP model without a UMD drive since the very beginning,” Matsui told Japan's GameBusiness. “But if we'd simply released the hardware, there wouldn't have been much for everyone to enjoy. We needed to prepare the right environment for it first - things like the transferral of content with the PS3 and PSN, and PC software to manage content like music and movies such as 'Media Go'.”
“We wanted to release it when the delivery of digital content was on par with the delivery of physical media,” he continued. “That's what we've been working on these past two years. We'll be selling the PSP Go alongside the existing PSP models, because it's a product targeted at those people who are more accustomed to digital content.”
So there you have it PSP fans, this is the perfect time to buy a new PSP Go as the market will only get bigger and bigger. Even though it is expensive, it might prove a good investment.